I've talked about this in reblogs and stuff but never made an actual post so here we are
Several tws in the tags
By no means am I an expert on this topic so if I have any incorrect info please correct me
This boy needs help
SERIOUS help
Can Keefe get professional help in book 10 Shannon? Pls?
First off his mental health isn't where it should be in the later books
I mean it wasn't great in the older ones either but...
The fact that him being suicidal us actually cannon breaks my heart it's not even hcs or speculations anymore its cannon now
Chapter one of unraveled he was ready to let go of his light leap because he was so tired and didn't want to hurt anymore but had to yell at himself so he didn't let himself do it
Now while I was expecting something like this in Unraveled I was actually quite shocked at how... blatant it was (for a middle grade fantasy)
I fully believe that if this was YA we'd be getting more of a deepdive into keefes mental health and the facets that comes with it from Unraveled
And while this is the only straight out mention of it we've gotten (that I recall) there's been countless examples of him being so reckless with his life that you really have to sit back and wonder but if I named all of them we'd be here all day
He truly has an "if I die I die" mentality and doesn't really seem to understand the consequences of that with how convinced he is that people would be better off without him (ex: hom running away twice)
Now this next part is where we get into speculations and what I believe to be allegories
Several of his actions could be considered as sh
Again I turn to unraveled for thus before he'd met the jogger
Keefe had the pebble in his shoe which tore up his feet but he was so desperate to not let himself give any commands to the point to where he'd go as far as to go throughout physical harm to not let himself donit
This is the most extreme example I have but thus next one I'm giving @cavennmalore credit for because I didn't actually realize this before she brought it up
But (again in unraveled) Keefe was borderline begging Alvar to know what medications the doctors had given him so Keefe would have even a slight chance to once more get rid of his abilities
Even willing to get rid of his empathy and polygotism (is that how you say that???) Just so he can get rid of his other abilities
Now the next example I've got from unlocked when he was struggling to choke back a command on dex and to stop it he hit himself hard to distract himself
While the first one did actually help him get rid of it he was about to do it a second time (maybe even more) but Ro stopped him
If Ro hadn't interfered he'dve done it more than necessary
There's probably more I'm either missing or forgetting but one last (potential) example
Several times throughout the series (although I'm mainly pointing toward neverseen for this) he's abstained from eating or sleeping when feeling guilty (and subsequently trying to solve) from things his mother did
Forkle had to convince Keefe to eat before explaining one of his plans because he'd been refusing to eat
He'd stay up and refuse to sleep because he wanted to try and figure up his mother's schemes
This I can see either way
Because stress can also defently cause people to lose appetite and unable to sleep but i feel like it was worth throwing into this conversation
That also brings me to another observation I've noticed with Keefe
While the lost cities don't have drugs or alcohol in the traditional sense I have noticed thay he seems very quick to abuse substances
The fathomlethes
While I have made jokes and memes about these being 'elf drugs' I want to put this under the more serious lens this deserves
In Neverseen he asks Della for the fathomlethe to recover memories
While she's hesitant she ends up giving one in the end
Sophie is the only one to really give any serious push back on it
And I feel thays intentional as she grew up in the human world and substance abuse is very rampant here ESSPECIALLY in California
So she has seen how substance abuse can ruin people's lives and make them a shell of themselves
Fathomlethes seem to behave like human drugs in a sense too
Erratic behavior
Hallucinations
Extreme vivid dreams
Out of character actions
Restlessness
Extremely anf suddenly hyperactive
+ more I'm likely forgetting
In legacy when she finds out he's been using them regularly she freaks out
Again likely her subconscious making those connections
Who else is the only other person to have concern over Keefe us8ng the fathomlethes
Elwin
(I can't remember which book for the life of me rn) when Keefe asks for one from Elwin he immediately denies it and goes to put it to where Keefe can't get any
And I feel like it's also significant of Elwin being the only other one to say it's a bad idea as he's a doctor and has more experience with how it effects people's bodies
Now I can see arguments for both sides whether they're addictive or not but I don't think I can make any solid arguments on either one until I can get a cannon Keefe pov of any of the times he's used them
Another example
I feel like this is more subtle and could be me looking too hard into things
But in unraveled when Keefe had those flat whites
You could say in a sense he got 'addicted' to them and continoisly overused it (probably having wayyyy over the recommended daily limit)
He constantly went back to it to get that boost
His fix
No it doesn't seem all that significant by itself but with Keefe's personality brought into play I feel like it's definitely another example of him and being extra vulnerable to stuff like this (an addictive personality is very much a tjing)
Last example I have as I'm typing this
The memory of him after Sophie's funeral
He keeps begging Lady Gisela for the slumberry tea so he doesn't have to face reality and his grief
Alcohol
That's the very first thing that c9mes to mind when I read that scene
People will use alcohol to cope with things like that and not have to deal with the real world and I feel like this definitely fits that bill here
While it's not alcohol I feel (to me) that the similarities are pretty unmistakable with this and the metaphor (whether intentional or not) is not lost on me
Closing this off
Despite this being a children's book series I believe Shannon did really well incorporating serious topics like these into her books considering her limitations
I'd love to see not just Keefe but all the others mental health mote explored but of course it's difficult when writing for a very young audience
If KOTLC was a YA the mental health representation would go insane. I’m glad I’m not the only one who pieces together the obvious cry for help that is Keefe Sencen. He’s actually so bad mentally and emotionally I’m shocked that there are fans who don’t get it. He’s not the way he is for a hee hee or haha moment. He’s actually so ill he can’t even regulate himself 🥀
Between him and Sophie I believe Shannon subtly nailed it on the head without actually writing (because of the younger audience) what is happening in front of our faces. It’s one of the reasons I love KOTLC because yes it’s label for a younger audience but they deserve to know that their feelings are valid. The representation of mental health in young teenagers are rarely seriously expressed. To have someone like Keefe Sencen and Sophie (both mentally ill but drastically different with coping) is so important to me. It breaks my heart to read and see the signs but that’s what makes it real to me. These are actual problems other children and people can relate to. And it’s heartbreaking to think of the young people who deserve this representation but it’s so refreshing to let them know that there are people who feel the same way. That they aren’t crazy and their mental health is just as valid as others.
:( it’s why my younger self obsessed with it because I saw myself in them
Sophie is such a nerd, and I mean that in the best of ways. It doesn't matter how smart you are, some of these things don't just happen accidentally.
She made the decision to read the dictionary when she was little, not to impress people, but purely because she loved learning and found it fascinating. she memorized all the stars, which had to be more than just her photophographic memory. perhaps she did it for an astronomy class or something, but still.
not to mention, Sophie has canonically read fantasy books like Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, which yeah, are more popular books, so that doesn't mean she's a nerd, but that's because Shannon Messenger wanted to reference books people would know.
I'd have liked to see more of nerd Sophie. She should have every right to on a rampage about her favorite element on the period table (perhaps I'm projecting, my favorite is radium) and why it's the best and who created it and all the little details. Surely, Sophie loved learning and reading, and also before she learned that people didn't want to hear these things (wrongly, there are definitely people who would love to hear her rambles, rip Sophie foster, she would have loved Tumblr).
i would love to see dex and Sophie nerding out together over science and exchanging words in quick rushes. also dex is a movie nerd, there's no denying that, and I fully believe Sophie is a fandom nerd, more leaning toward books, but she definitely would be able to discuss movies for ages.
(also, Sophie was greatly isolated as a child, she would have definitely spent her time in a book or watching her favorite movie/tv show for the fifty billionth time)
Oh, and Sophie is a music nerd. I think it'd also be neat to see Sophie obsess over the different styles of music with the different cultures with Dex, but them still being obsessed with human music.
and I 100% canon Sophie blurting out to Keefe all about a book or something, and he thinks it's adorable, but also he's obsessed with fandom and she gets him hooked on her favorite books and she writes fanfic and he draws fanart.
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